Former US Senator, Bob Menendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges.
Last July, a jury found Menendez guilty on 16 counts for accepting gifts, including gold bars, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for helping foreign governments.
Prosecutors were seeking at least a 15-year sentence, citing in court documents the "rare gravity" of the ex-senator's crimes.
Lawyers for Menendez, 71, had called for a shorter sentence paired with community service.
"Somewhere along the way, you became, I'm sorry to say, a corrupt politician," US Judge Sidney Stein said before handing down Menendez's sentence, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
Before receiving his sentence, Menendez cried while addressing the courtroom.
"Other than family, I have lost everything I ever cared about," he said, according to court reporters. "Every day I'm awake is a punishment."
He then asked the judge "to temper your sword of justice with the mercy of a lifetime of duty".
Menendez's son, Rob Menendez, a Democratic congressman, and his daughter, MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez, were seated in court behind their father.
Earlier on Wednesday, two of Menendez's co-conspirators were sentenced in the case.
Fred Daibes, a New Jersey real estate developer who prosecutors say delivered gold and cash to the senator, was given a sentence of seven years in prison and fined $1.75m (£1.4m).
Wael Hana, an Egyptian-American businessman, who prosecutors say brokered a deal between Menendez and the Egyptian government, received more than eight years in prison and was fined $1.25m.
Menendez has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has said he plans to appeal the guilty verdict.
The New Jersey senator, who used to lead the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned from the upper chamber in August.
The guilty verdict came after a nine-week trial, during which jurors saw evidence that Menendez accepted gifts including gold bars worth over $100,000 and more than $480,000 in cash, found by FBI agents inside Menendez's home.
In exchange for the bribes, prosecutors said Menendez helped secure millions of dollars in US aid for Egypt.
His lawyers argued the gifts did not qualify as bribes, saying prosecutors failed to prove Menendez took any actions as a result of the bribes.
The former senator was also convicted for trying to influence criminal probes involving his two co-defendants, Hana and Daibes.
A third businessman involved in the case, Jose Uribe, has pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced later this year. He testified against Menendez during the trial.
Nadine Menendez, the ex-senator's wife, has also been accused of acting as a participant in the scheme by shuttling messages and bribes between the three men and Egyptian officials.
Her trial was delayed so she could undergo breast cancer treatment and will begin in March. She has pleaded not guilty.
Posts
Thank you for reaching out to us. We are happy to receive your opinion and request. If you need advert or sponsored post, We’re excited you’re considering advertising or sponsoring a post on our blog. Your support is what keeps us going. With the current trend, it’s very obvious content marketing is the way to go. Banner advertising and trying to get customers through Google Adwords may get you customers but it has been proven beyond doubt that Content Marketing has more lasting benefits.
We offer majorly two types of advertising:
1. Sponsored Posts: If you are really interested in publishing a sponsored post or a press release, video content, advertorial or any other kind of sponsored post, then you are at the right place.
WHAT KIND OF SPONSORED POSTS DO WE ACCEPT?
Generally, a sponsored post can be any of the following:
Press release
Advertorial
Video content
Article
Interview
This kind of post is usually written to promote you or your business. However, we do prefer posts that naturally flow with the site’s general content. This means we can also promote artists, songs, cosmetic products and things that you love of all products or services.
DURATION & BONUSES
Every sponsored article will remain live on the site as long as this website exists. The duration is indefinite! Again, we will share your post on our social media channels and our email subscribers too will get to read your article. You’re exposing your article to our: Twitter followers, Facebook fans and other social networks.
We will also try as much as possible to optimize your post for search engines as well.
Submission of Materials : Sponsored post should be well written in English language and all materials must be delivered via electronic medium. All sponsored posts must be delivered via electronic version, either on disk or e-mail on Microsoft Word unless otherwise noted.
PRICING
The price largely depends on if you’re writing the content or we’re to do that. But if your are writing the content, it is $60 per article.
2. Banner Advertising: We also offer banner advertising in various sizes and of course, our prices are flexible. you may choose to for the weekly rate or simply buy your desired number of impressions.
Technical Details And Pricing
Banner Size 300 X 250 pixels : Appears on the home page and below all pages on the site.
Banner Size 728 X 90 pixels: Appears on the top right Corner of the homepage and all pages on the site.
Large rectangle Banner Size (336x280) : Appears on the home page and below all pages on the site.
Small square (200x200) : Appears on the right side of the home page and all pages on the site.
Half page (300x600) : Appears on the right side of the home page and all pages on the site.
Portrait (300x1050) : Appears on the right side of the home page and all pages on the site.
Billboard (970x250) : Appears on the home page.
Submission of Materials : Banner ads can be in jpeg, jpg and gif format. All materials must be deliverd via electronic medium. All ads must be delivered via electronic version, either on disk or e-mail in the ordered pixel dimensions unless otherwise noted.
For advertising offers, send an email with your name,company, website, country and advert or sponsored post you want to appear on our website to advert @ alexa. ng
Normally, we should respond within 48 hours.